Bulletins
Give God the Love we owe Him as we are made in His image and likeness
Sunday, October 18th, 2026 - 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time
St. Mary, St. Patrick, St. Philip Parishes
Mailing address for all three parishes: PO Box 35, Seneca WI 54654
Website: https://www.catholicchurchesofncc.com
Confessions: Normally, 30 minutes before every Mass and by appointment.
Normal Monthly Eucharistic Adoration:
St. Patrick: First Friday after the 8:30 AM Mass
St. Philip: First Sunday after the 10:30 AM Mass
Mass Intentions This Week:
Sat. Oct. 17 7:00 PM St. Patrick + Ron Becwar ( Beverly Becwar)
Sun. Oct 18 7:30 AM St. Patrick
+ All Souls
9:00 AM St. Mary + Royce Havlik (St. Mary PCCW)
10:30 AM St. Philip Living & Deceased Members of my Parishes
Mon. Oct. 19 8:30 AM St. Patrick + Verna Fralick (Bob & Nancy Ostrander)
Tue. Oct. 20 8:30 AM St. Philip NO MASS due to Fall Clergy Days
Wed. Oct. 21 8:30 AM St. Patrick Blessings for Fr. Tom (Bishop Gerard)
Thur. Oct. 22 8:30 AM St. Mary + All Souls of those who have served our Nation
Fri.. Oct. 23 8:30 AM St Patrick + All Souls
Sat. Oct. 24 7:00 PM St. Patrick + Zachary Stevens (Family)
30th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Sun. Oct. 25 7:30 AM St. Patrick + Arnold & Patricia Stoehr (John Kane)
9:00 AM St Mary Living & Deceased Members of my Parishes
10:30 AM St. Philip + All Souls
Pastor: Fr. Tom Huff – Rectory 608-734-3252 email: frtomhuff@gmail.com
Bookkeeper, Bulletin, Mass Intentions, Membership: Kevin Murray 608-391-0434 or 608-734-3931 or
email: secretary@ncc.diolcparish.org
Bulletin Information Deadline: Mondays at 6:00 PM.
For Mass Intentions, if donating by check, please make all checks payable to: St. Mary Stipend Fund. To avoid errors, please print clearly the intention, who the intention is by, and if a specific date for Mass is requested. Thank You
To Sign into Formed.org: use St. Mary in Gays Mills as the parish and use the password Mary123!
St. Philip Announcements:
Food Pantry Donations can be left in the basket in the rear of the Church.
St. Philip Candles: Contact Bonnie Murphy. The cost is $5 per candle.
St. Mary Announcements:
Rosary – 30 minutes before Mass
First Sunday Potluck Brunch after Mass each first Sunday of the month. All are welcome, dish to share is appreciated, but not required. Next potluck is Sunday, November 1st.
Saint Mary’s is open 7:00am – 7:00pm daily. Please feel free to come and pray and light a candle if you would like.
Food Pantry Donations can be left in the basket in the rear of the Church.
It was time to retire our old organ. We have purchased a new electronic keyboard/organ so we can all continue to enjoy the beautiful liturgical music we have all come to expect. The new electronic keyboard/organ cost the parish just under three thousand dollars. Any help in covering the cost of this purchase would go a long way in helping St. Mary’s to remain solvent and ensuring that we will all be able to worship together here at St. Mary’s for years to come. Thank you.
St. Mary's service group will be meeting on Tuesday, October 27th at 6pm in the church basement. We will be reviewing the Apple Fest Food Stand fundraiser. All are welcome to attend, provide feedback, and share your ideas for next year.
St. Patrick Announcements:
None at this time
Tri-Parish Announcements:
Tri-Parish Adult Faith Study will be Tuesday, October 20th at 6:00 PM at St. Mary Parish Hall.
The Weekly Bulletin is available on our parishes website, this is the link to the bulletin page, updated every Friday: https://www.catholicchurchesofncc.com/bulletins.
Other Announcements:
Knights of Columbus Trinity Council will have the Life Savers for Life drive THIS weekend of Oct 17-18.
Annunciation (St. Mary’s) Parish in Viroqua will hold their annual Turkey Dinner on Wednesday, October 21, 2026, from 4:00 PM – 7:00 PM. Meal includes: turkey with all the fixin’s and homemade pie. $15.00 per person, Dine in or carryout. Quilt raffle and cash prize raffle will be held at 7:00 PM. All are welcome.
Income from Last Week
St. Mary
Adults
560.00
Plate
113.00
Fall Fundraiser
100.00
Life Guardian Donation
100.00
Total
823.00
St. Philip
Adults
755.00
Plate
25.00
Raffle Prize Donation
400.00
Raffle Ticket Sales
610.00
Total
1790.00
St. Patrick
Adults
911.00
Plate
126.00
Youth
6.00
Votives
35.00
Total
1078.00
From the Priest’s Corner: Christians and Politics
Today’s gospel, the enemies of Jesus try to entrap Him by asking whether they should pay the Roman tax to Caesar or not. The Pharisees and the Herodians asked Jesus this question to force him into a dangerous corner. If he said yes: He would look like a traitor to Jewish nationalists and a collaborator with Rome. If he said no: He would be reported to the Roman authorities for sedition and rebellion. Jesus stated: "Then repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God". He showed that supporting a civil government through taxes does not conflict with serving God.
Some will understand our Lord's response as separating politics from religion. Some will even go further and say this means that Christians should keep their moral values out of politics. They will also misinterpret the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, claiming it means religion must be kept out of politics. Yet the Clause states that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.” This Clause separates church from state, not religion from public life: The law stops the government from endorsing, funding, or dictating religion, it does not bar individual politicians, voters, or citizens from bringing their personal moral and religious convictions into the political square.
The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith states concerning the participation of Catholics in the political life: By fulfilling their civic duties, guided by a Christian conscience, in conformity with its values, the lay faithful exercise their proper task of infusing the temporal order with Christian values, all the while respecting the nature and rightful autonomy of that order, and cooperating with other citizens according to their particular competence and responsibility. The consequence of this fundamental teaching of the Second Vatican Council is that the lay faithful are never to relinquish their participation in ‘public life’, that is, in the many different economic, social, legislative, administrative and cultural areas, which are intended to promote organically and institutionally the common good». This would include the promotion and defense of goods such as public order and peace, freedom and equality, respect for human life and for the environment, justice and solidarity.
The Second Vatican Council exhorted Christians to fulfill their duties faithfully in the spirit of the Gospel. It is a mistake to think that, because we have here no lasting city, but seek the city which is to come, we are entitled to shirk our earthly responsibilities; this is to forget that by our faith we are bound all the more to fulfill these responsibilities according to the vocation of each. May Christians be proud of the opportunity to carry out their earthly activity in such a way as to integrate human, domestic, professional, scientific and technical enterprises with religious values, under whose supreme direction all things are ordered to the glory of God.
Tri-Parish Prayer List – We want to pray for the sick and others in our parishes who need ongoing prayer. To be placed on or to place someone on our prayer list, please call: Sue Peterson 608-735-4865, Bonnie Murphy 608-386-4954, or Ica Boylen 608-734-3287.
Ron McCormick
Tyrone Beaty
Michael Monehen
Rosanne Feye
David Jacobsen
Steve Trussoni
Janice Coggins
Sequohay Dockry
Mary (Moran) Orvis
Marian Beall
Karen McCoy
Jenna Friar
Maria Camacho
Bob Wharton
Jeri Gorman
Loyde Beers
Lisa Glass
Greg Roth
Wade Dull
Kiara Meier
Shirley Whitby
Shay Vought
Rick Boehm
Tom Gillette
Rita Helgerson
Jeff Croke
Joyce Fisher
Gary “Bucky” George
Marvin Hansen
Claudia Safley
Eve Trussoni
Rob Donohue
Larry Boehm
Todd Safley
John & Betty Lynch
Rhiana Morga
Joshua Ecklund
William Wright
Rob Tittle
Gene & Mary Murphy
Linda Cowan
Jerry Boehm
Phyllis Bell
Donnie Moran
Jess Zimple
Lea Whitby
Nicholas Currich
Robin Williams
Alan Whitby
Jenna Peterson
Janet Black Yznaga
Joni Peterson
Jeanette Wallenhorst
Becky Kramer
Matt Donavan
Susan Monehen
Mason Evens
Isaiah Caya and the 107th Maintenance Corp.
Article by Father Brandon Guenther
Please know this bulletin article contains mature topics and may not be suitable for all children.
“Thou didst knit me together in my mother’s womb” (Ps. 139:13).
As we continue through October, Respect Life Month, we reflected last week on the inherent dignity of human life stemming from being made in the image and likeness of God. Often, the topics concerning human life are divided into stages and this week we will focus on the issues arising at the beginning of life.
If you were to type into Google: “When does human life begin?” It responds: “Scientifically, a new individual human life begins at fertilization (conception)” and it cites the National Institutes of Health and the American College of Pediatricians. The Catholic Church agrees: human life begins and receives its immortal soul at the moment of conception and is endowed with all the rights and responsibilities of a human being. Preeminent among all rights is the right to life.
What does this mean for us? First, abortion is absolutely wrong and a grave offense to the dignity of human life and the fifth commandment. To procure or assist in the procurement of an abortion is an excommunicable offense. To persist in the belief that abortion is allowable or to promote or support abortion is a grave sin; a mortal sin under the normal conditions. As Catholics, we must oppose abortion. Often this is cited as a “political issue” and the Church should remain silent. “Politics” at its root means “people” or “citizens.” Every issue concerning human life is indeed political and we must pursue policy and elect leaders that protect life at all stages, but most especially concerning issues that relate directly to life and death for such a great number of human beings; abortion is one of those issues.
The consequences of abortion are staggering. Since the legalization of abortion in 1974, it is estimated that more than 60,000,000 babies have been aborted in America alone. I often reflect on the number of my own generation and peers who never were given a chance to live.
The forcefulness with which we oppose abortion can often be interpreted incorrectly as hatred or simply as “pro-birth” rather than truly pro-life. In the defense of human life, we must also acknowledge a grave responsibility to support mothers in crisis pregnancies and work to ameliorate the conditions of poverty which so often lead to the decision for abortion.
We must also oppose anything that turns human life into a commodity that is bought and sold. In vitro fertilization (IVF) and surrogate motherhood are two examples. To be very clear, any child born through surrogacy or IVF has the same dignity as any other human and is a precious gift. Nevertheless, these processes involve serious violations of human dignity through conception in a petri dish, abortions to reduce the number of implanted embryos, freezing of embryos, and much more.
None of these are easy issues and can hardly be explained fully in a small bulletin article. Most of all, we know that God is merciful. If we turn away from our sin and toward him in sacramental confession, he will forgive us. God always knows our great dignity, that we are made in His image.
